All right. Here's the chapter that most of you have been waiting for. I've been waiting for it too, but even as I post this I wonder if I captured exactly what I wanted to. I think there's always more that could be said and written, but that's for a longer one-shot later, maybe. I'll have to see what I can do. But for now, here it is.

Thanks for all of your reviews and patience! I'm thinking there will be one more chapter after this, but it may turn into two. I'm not sure yet. At any rate, we are definitely nearing the end.

Enjoy!

Obi-Wan

"Obi-Wan?"

The man closed azure eyes, and he let out a long, low breath. His brow crinkled, and it looked almost as if he were about to cry, but when he opened his eyes they were clear and dry. There was nothing holding him back, now, he thought. Nothing but his own apprehension.

"But after all, he called you."

He nodded without turning around. "I know, Master."

Qui-Gon did not press, but placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder and applied a comforting pressure. "When you are ready."

Silence for a long moment. And then he squared his shoulders, eyes fixed on a point far on the distant horizon, and took a single step forward.

--

Anakin felt the bitter disappointment like a blow to the stomach. He had been imagining things, then. He stood quite still, fists clenched at his sides, fighting the lump in his throat. He was tired of crying. He felt exhausted, sick at heart, as if the hope that had so recently blossomed in his chest was fading away, consumed by the disappointment. He shuffled his feet and circled once more, expecting nothing, seeing no one.

He shut his eyes tightly. "Where do I go from here?" he asked softly. "What now?"

There was no answer. He began to walk aimlessly, thoughts pressing in around him like noxious fumes.

He isn't coming. Not after what I've done to him. He's angry. Disappointed. I was never good enough…I never appreciated him enough. I called, but he didn't come. He no longer loves me. He said he did. His last words. His last words told you just how much he loved you. And you didn't listen. I didn't listen. I never listened. Anakin, you fool, you stupid fool. Anakin…

"Anakin."

His heart stopped. His breath caught in his chest. He wondered for a brief moment if he was imagining the voice, but the sudden warmth, light, and peace that were chasing away the darkness of his thoughts were no dream. A shiver ran up and down his spine. He turned, sobbed once, and then Obi-Wan was gripping his shoulders, pulling him close, holding him so tightly that his breath was crushed from his lungs.

And just for that moment, he had never been happier.

He was home. Obi-Wan was home. Home was the rainy, earthy smell that was Obi-Wan. Home was that crooked smile and mischievous glint in brilliant blue eyes that meant they were about to do something incredibly stupid or dangerous. Home was the sarcasm in the Coruscanti accent that emerged when they were both exhausted. Home was the strong, gentle hands and the exultant laughter and the encouragement and love that had always been Obi-Wan.

He hadn't changed. As Anakin drew back, Obi-Wan looked exactly as he had in Anakin's memories. He was a few inches shorter than Anakin himself, still lithe and strong. His hair was still that auburn-brown color streaked with gray about the temples. There were still those laughter wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, and still that penetrating stare and the slight lift of one eyebrow.

"You look like you haven't changed much."

Anakin shrugged. "I was about to say the same for you."

That crooked smile. "I meant it as a compliment."

It took a moment to process this, but the dry, sarcastic sense of humor was so familiar that he found himself shaking his head, a reluctant smile crawling up his face. But before, where he might have returned with a clever jab, now he only said, "So did I. You look as if I never hurt you."

"Well, I could say the same for you. I must say, you look much better without the cape and mask."

"Must I remind you that you put them there in the first place?"
"Well, perhaps they did have their advantages. Not so cheeky with them on."

"I was too busy being intimidating."

"Did it work? I didn't notice."

"Old age had blinded you."

Obi-Wan laughed and gripped Anakin's shoulder. "It is good to have you back, Anakin. I have missed you. So very much. And I am sorry for giving you the cape and mask. In all seriousness, I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you that way."

"It was nothing to what I did to you," Anakin said. "I'm sorry."

"So you forgive me, then?"
"Yes, of course…"

"And I forgive you for everything. And there we are. That's behind us."

Anakin stared, nonplussed. "That's it?"
Obi-Wan threw up his hands. "What more do you want?"

"I spent twenty years of guilt for it all to be over in less than sixty seconds?"
"Unless you want to spend twenty years apologizing. Feel free. But you'll be on your own. I'm certainly not going to listen." The quick grin again. But then it faded into a more serious look, and the azure eyes searched Anakin's face with an almost yearning look.

"I had thought never to see you like this again," he said quietly. "What I did back on Mustafar haunted me as much as it haunted you, Anakin. I spent twenty sleepless years the same way you did. I didn't have the heart to kill you, and so I left you burning instead. I spent twenty years regretting that."

"At least I had the decency to make your death painless." Anakin kept his face serious, and he was worried for a moment that Obi-Wan had taken the statement literally. But then the grin broke out like dawn on Obi-Wan's face, and Anakin knew that Obi-Wan remembered Anakin's sense of humor as well as he had remembered Obi-Wan's.

"Only because I allowed you to kill me."

"That's what you say."

"And what you know to be true."

It was a rather morbid topic to laugh about, Anakin knew, but he had had so little to laugh about recently. He was teasing and joking and grinning as he hadn't in twenty years…as he looked at Obi-Wan, taking in every detail, every lost moment between them, he knew that Obi-Wan was feeling the same way.

They moved as one, falling into step beside each other. The gesture was so familiar, and so comfortable, that it felt to Anakin that he had fallen into the past.

"So, you have seen Padme?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes. She's forgiven me too."

"Well, of course. What did you expect? And you've spoken with your mother?"

"Yes."

"I understand, after meeting her, why you missed her so."

"Master Yoda and Master Windu too. And Master Qui-Gon."

"Hmmm, yes, he told me he was going to greet you. I'm sorry I didn't." Obi-Wan paused, and then said, "I was afraid."

This stopped Anakin in his tracks. "You were afraid? Of what?"

Obi-Wan stopped too, looking a little apologetic and sheepish. "Of you. Of our past. Of how in Force's name we were going to put everything behind us. It was easier than I had expected."

Anakin nodded, but did not reply. Obi-Wan eyed him knowingly, and opened his mouth as if to speak, but then he broke off, cocked his head slightly to one side as if listening, and then grasped Anakin's upper arm. "It's time. Quickly!"

"What..." But there was no time to question. They were gone.

Review, please! TBC...